‘First Baby’ Born In Harriman Still Living Near Oliver Springs
The man who claims the honor of being the first male child born in Harriman doesn’t live here any more---but he didn’t get far away.Walter Calvin Riggs, who was born in Shacktown in 1890, the year Harriman was founded, is spending his retirement years in his home on Highway 61, just this side of Oliver Springs. Mr. And Mrs. Riggs have lived there since Mr. Riggs’ retirement from the insurance business in 1954. They don’t get around too much any more, Mr. Riggs says, but they do have quite a bit of a garden.As the first male child born in Harriman, Mr. Riggs received a lot as a gift from the Harriman Land Company. It was, he believes, close to the present post office. But his father sold it almost immediately to Rube Hurt for $11, Mr. Riggs says. And back in those days, $11 was a considerable amount of money. His father earned 75 cents a day when employed in the rolling mill.
Mr. Riggs’ grandfather settled in Sugar Grove Community following the War Between the States. His father lived first in Morgan County and when the boom began, moved to Harriman, where Walter Riggs was born on May 18, 1890. Mr. Riggs said that a Doctor Nash officiated at his birth, but he can’t recall the doctor’s Christian name.
The family moved to a farm between Dyllis and Sugar Grove when young Walter was about four years old. Growing to manhood, Mr. Riggs worked in saw mills and on farms. He bought his first acre of land in 1907. In 1909 he was married to Miss Maude Adams. In 1910 he started firing and braking for the H&NE and in 1912 moved to Oakdale where he worked as a switchman. He lost his hand in a railroading accident in 1914.
He then turned to farming and bought some acreage across the river from Harriman Junction. Finding the community preoccupied with moonshining activities, he and his wife contributed the land and some funds for construction of Riggs Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in 1916.
In 1918, the Riggs bought a farm near Emory Gap, but left there to return to Oakdale, where Mr. Riggs worked in a grocery store. They made a trip to Oregon, but returned to Roane County in 1922. Mr. Riggs started in the insurance business with Interstate Insurance Company in 1927 and in 1935 joined Home Beneficial. He remained with that company until he retired in 1954.
Mr. And Mrs. Riggs have two daughters, Mrs. James Abel, living in Rockwood; and Mrs. James Marrine, Decatur, Ala.
Transcribed 11 Mar 2001 by zookeeper Courtesy of descendant skunkmolly
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